Press Release
30th June 2025
System wide failure – EPA report exposes Local Authorities for failing to regulate environmental destruction of peatlands
The Irish Peatland Conservation Council (IPCC) today condemns a “system-wide failure” by local authorities in regulating large-scale commercial peat extraction, following the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) industrial peat extraction investigation and report.
The EPA investigation uncovered 38 illegal peat extraction sites operating without the required planning or environmental authorisations across seven Counties including Offaly, Kildare, Laois, Westmeath, Roscommon, Longford and Sligo. These operations export approximately 300,000 tonnes of peat annually, generating an estimated €40 million per year.
There are direct implications of peat extraction on all of our lives. In 2024 the Environmental Protection Agency reported that 1 in 20 water supplies failed to meet the THM standard in 2023 (THMs are a byproduct of using chemicals to remove organic matter such as peat from freshwater). This led to nearly 300,000 people receiving ‘At Risk’ notices about their water supply. Furthermore, these industrial sites have no legal obligation to repair the damage they have caused, there is no oversight and they can just walkaway once the site is not profitable anymore. Leaving everyone else to live beside with the damage and destruction they have caused.
The EPA’s Report into the 38 industrial peat extraction sites is echoing what IPCC have been campaigning against for decades, that these unlawful activities are inflicting “catastrophic damage” on Ireland’s boglands: the vital ecosystems that support biodiversity, cultural heritage, scientific research and perform crucial eco-system-services such as filtering water and sequestering carbon, storing it for millennia which is key in our efforts to mitigate the impacts of climate change.
Despite mounting evidence and EPA prosecutions of some operators, most local authorities have failed to enforce environmental laws. The EPA labels their performance “patently inadequate,” noting that councils have taken virtually no action against the industrial activities.
The peat extraction industry does not engage, even when the Review of the Use of Peat in the Horticultural Industry Working Group published their report and proposed a timeline for phasing out the use of peat the industry has not followed through or even attempted to self regulate.
The IPCC need to see external regulation on this industry that is using loopholes to profit from the destruction of Irish habitats not found anywhere else on the globe. Everyone else has to adhere to planning and environmental law so why is it peat extraction can continue without any issues? IPCC need to see these industrial peat extraction sites rehabilitated and restored to give the biodiversity that was destroyed the chance and space to recover.